


The Kids Are Alright

by katayla



Category: Kate Daniels - Ilona Andrews
Genre: F/M, Families of Choice
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-21
Updated: 2014-12-21
Packaged: 2018-03-02 14:35:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,663
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2815610
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/katayla/pseuds/katayla
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Julie's all grown up. Derek notices.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Kids Are Alright

**Author's Note:**

  * For [anticyclone](https://archiveofourown.org/users/anticyclone/gifts).



> Canon compliant through/No spoilers past _Magic Rises._ Many thanks to my lovely betas!

"Kate," Curran said. "Why is Derek staring at Julie?"

"Because he's been gone for six months and she's not a little kid anymore."

"I don't like it."

I sighed. "Of course you don't."

Derek had just returned from a trip to Europe. Curran had made an effort to keep in touch with the European shapeshifters over the years since our trip to get panacea. And Derek was the perfect choice. He was responsible and far scarier than someone I still thought of as the Boy Wonder had any right to be.

And, while he was gone, Julie had turned 21 and started working for the Pack full time. No doubt about it. My ward was all grown up.

She and Ascanio had teamed up to throw Derek a "Welcome Home" party and the Pack's largest meeting room was crammed full of people. Most of the time, Derek hated being the center of attention (something that only made Ascanio all the more eager to throw the party), but today he didn't seem to care. All his attention was on Julie.

I sighed again.

"You don't like it either!" Curran said.

I shrugged. We were standing in a corner that gave us a good viewpoint of the entire room. "She's had a crush on him forever. This was bound to happen sometime."

"You never told me that!"

"You told her she wasn't allowed to date any of your shapeshifters!"

"I was joking!"

I rolled my eyes. "It didn't exactly inspire me to confide in you about her romances, Your Majesty."

"Her romances? What romances?"

I just grinned at him.

"I _told_ Jim to keep an eye on her," Curran grumbled.

"Yeah, and I told our chief of security to stay out of our ward's business."

"I don't like it."

And Curran glowered at Derek some more.

*

Julie had dressed with care for the party. She'd almost bought a new dress, but decided against it because she _didn't_ have a crush on Derek. She simply wanted to look nice for an old friend who'd been away. She'd brushed her hair 100 times and stolen some makeup out of the stash Kate kept buried her her bathroom.

Ascanio had stared at her with his mouth open until she smacked him. So what if she normally wore jeans? She could look nice!

Derek's stare was _far_ more gratifying. His eyes traveled up and down her body and then snapped to her face. Once, twice, three times, she let their eyes meet and he blushed and looked away.

"Go jump him," Ascanio nudged Julie in the arm.

_Boudas_. Like she even wanted to jump him. Besides, Curran was glaring at Derek, which meant Julie had a fun conversation waiting for her at home. On her 16th birthday, Curran had forbidden her from dating any shapeshifters, so she'd snuck out that night and made out with Ascanio.

Kate had caught her sneaking back into their quarters and told her not to listen to Curran. Like she needed to be told that. She would have pranced in front of him with her dates, but, really, he'd just scare them away. Not worth it.

Derek now. He wouldn't scare, but he did have that whole hero worship thing going on.

Maybe she _should_ jump him.

Wait, no, no jumping him. She was over her crush.

It was nice to be stared at, though.

"You could at least talk to the poor boy," Ascanio said. "Probably doesn't have a clue how to approach a hot woman."

"Aw, you called me hot."

Ascanio flashed his best grin at her. "I'll call you more than that, if you want."

"I'd rather jump Derek."

"Go on, then." He leaned towards her. "I dare you."

Julie narrowed her eyes at him. "You always did get me in the worst messes."

Ascanio bounced up and down. "Do it, do it, do it!"

Julie tossed her head. "Well, I _do_ need to welcome him home."

"And I know the perfect way you--"

"Shut up."

And then she made her way to Derek. He watched her approach and, this time, he didn't look away. She slowed down as she came closer and led a smile slowly spread across her face. He swallowed, but kept his eyes on her.

"Welcome back," she said. She stepped forward to hug him and then stepped back, suddenly confused. She'd forgotten how big he was. So much bigger than any of the boys she'd dated. He was a _grown man_. He had all this responsibility. He'd represented the whole entire Pack in Europe and probably still thought of her as a dumb kid. This was so stupid.

And he took a step back, too. "Hi--hi, Julie."

Great. He was scared of her. She searched frantically for something to say. "Um. How was your trip?"

"Good," Derek said. "How--was everything here?"

"Good."

"Good," Derek said.

"Um, so! Enjoy the party!" Julie spun on her heel and walked back to Ascanio, who was practically rolling on the floor with laughter.  
*

I snorted. "I don't think you'll have to worry about Julie and Derek anytime soon."

Julie's shoulder slumped as she walked back to a laughing Ascanio.

"That was pitiful," Curran said.

"Julie or Derek?"

"Take your pick."

"So? Are you happy now?" I leaned back against Curran's chest and he put his arms around me and pulled me close.

I felt him shrug behind me. "They grew up, didn't they?"

"Yep."

"And I'm not supposed to interfere?"

"As Beast Lord? No. As Julie's guardian? No."

"And you think this is okay?"

I turned in his arms, so I could look up at him. "Secretly? I want Julie to stay with us forever."

"Good thinking. How do we make that happen?"

I frowned at him. "But she has to live her own life. She's 21 years old and Derek is a good guy."

"Who is much older than her."

"Remind me, Your Furriness? What is _our_ age difference?"

"That's different," Curran said. "When we met, you were--"

"Three years older than Julie is now."

Curran was silent for a moment and then his face lit up. "So they can wait three years to date."

"Yeah, okay," I said. "I'll go tell everyone the Beast Lord is dictating everyone's dating life now."

"Derek can date whoever he wants. Just not Julie."

"So who do you want Julie to date then?"

"Why does she have to date anyone?"

"Because I think she wants him."

And I couldn't stop my sigh. I'd be much more comfortable if we could switch places. I didn't want to be on this side of the argument. I wanted to coddle Julie and have Curran convince me to let her go.

Curran kissed the top of my head. "I'll do the worrying for both of us, okay?"

*

The next day, Julie met up with Maddie for lunch. Both of them were busy working for the Pack these days, but they usually managed to eat lunch together once a week.

"How was Derek's party?" Maddie asked. She'd had a shift in the medical ward the night before and couldn't make it.

"Weird," Julie said.

"Weird how?" Maddie asked.

Julie took a bite of her sandwich before she answered. "He kept _looking_ at me. And then I went up to him and, and we both just _froze_."

Maddie laughed. "I wish I could've seen that."

"No. It was awful. Ascanio made fun of me all night."

"So what are you going to do about it?" Maddie asked.

"Nothing!" Julie said.

Maddie didn't respond. Just took a sip of her coffee and raised her eyebrows.

Julie sighed and put head down on her arms. "I don't knooooow. I was over him, Maddie. I was _so_ over him."

She looked up at Maddie. "What do you think I should do?"

"Jump him."

Julie sat up and glared at her. "Have you been hanging out with Ascanio?"

"Seriously!" Maddie said. "You've been in love with him forever and you're the alphas' kid. He's never going to make the first move."

"But . . . "

"What?"

"What if I'm wrong? What if still thinks of me as a dumb little kid?"

"Okay," Maddie said. "First of all, he never thought of you as dumb. Second of all, you're _not_ a little kid. Third of all--"

"How long is this list?"

" _Third of all_ , what's the worst that could happen?"

"I don't want him to think badly of me!"

"Why would he think badly of you?"

Julie bit her lip. Derek had always been a part of her life. Looking after her and Kate and Curran. It felt like if she did anything, said anything, that might go away. And she couldn't do that to him or to Kate and Curran.

"I'm scared," she said.

Maddie reached over the table and grabbed her hand. "I know. But forget that for a moment. What do you want?"

At that question, Julie felt a wave of sadness and longing crash over her. She tried to smile at Maddie. "I want him."

"Then do something about it."

But what could she do?

*

"What's wrong with Julie?" Curran asked one night. "She's been moping around for days."

"Love," I said.

"No," Curran said.

"Deny it all you want, Your Fussiness, but don't come crying to me when you stumble on her and Derek in some dark corner."

Curran stared at me. "No."

"Seriously, Curran? After all the trouble she's gotten into over the years, _this_ is the thing you freak out about?"

"Monsters are far less scary than this."

Well. He was right. I'd thought I'd gotten lucky with Julie. After Red, all her love affairs had been short and casual. But Derek would never fit into that category.

A few minutes later, Julie walked into the room, sighed, and sat next to me on the couch. She leaned her head on my shoulder. "Can we invite Derek over for dinner?"

"No," Curran said.

"Yes," I said.

Curran glared at me. 

"He hasn't been here since he got back! He's going to think we don't like him anymore."

"Fine," Curran said. He pointed a finger at Julie. "But you better behave."

And he left the room, his normally quiet tread loud and angry.

"I always behave," Julie said.

I laughed and laughed until Julie scowled and pushed away from me.

"Okay, okay," I said. "Curran's just afraid you're going to get your heart broken."

Julie sighed. "I like him."

"Curran? Sorry, he's mine."

"Kate!"

"I know you do, baby."

"I think he might like me, too."

I sighed. "I think you're right."

"You don't like it?" She looked at me, her eyes full of uncertainty.

I reached over and hugged her. "I think you're a great fit for each other. It's just hard for me to believe you're all grown up."

"I don't know what to do about it," Julie said.

"Have you talked to him since you've come back?"

"Not really."

"Well, there's a good place to start."

*

Derek showed up that evening with his hair combed and a nervous look on his face. Julie ran up behind me to greet him and then stopped flat in her tracks.

"Hi," she squeaked.

"Hi," Derek said, his voice very low. He looked at the floor. Julie looked at the door.

Curran thumped into the room, crossed his arms, and stared at both of them.

Great. This dinner wasn't going to be awkward or anything.

I grabbed Derek with one hand and Julie with the other. "Come on. We're grilling on the roof."

That had been Curran's suggestion, which was a good sign he wasn't quite as grumpy about Julie and Derek as he said he was. If he'd really disapproved, he'd just have gotten some food sent up from the kitchens. Instead, he led the way up to the roof. I pushed Derek ahead of me and Julie followed.

Curran fired up the grill. After swallowing a couple of times, Derek looked at Julie and then walked to Curran and offered to help.

Ha! He was sucking up.

Curran grunted, but let Derek take over the grilling. I blew Curran a kiss. He was being nice.

Julie and I sat at the edge of the roof. The late sun shone on our hair and we sat in silence. I tried never to take these moments for granted. I never, ever thought I'd have a life like this. Julie let out a small sigh as she watched Derek, and I smiled. Curran grabbed the meat off the grill as soon as it was done and piled it high on the table. Far more than we'd eat, but I'd long stopped trying to argue with Curran about food.

When we sat down to eat, Curran was careful to serve Julie. No way would he let Derek give Julie food. Grilling it was close enough to a declaration.

And then . . . silence. I kicked Curran under the table and mouthed "say something," but he pretended not to notice. Fine. Up to Kate Daniels to save the day.

"How was Europe?" I asked Derek. Then added, "Asking as your friend, not your alpha."

I wondered if I'd ever get that balance right. But then Curran acted like the alpha most of the time and it just made me want to punch him in the face, so maybe my way was better.

"Good," Derek said. "But I'm glad to be back."

Julie looked up at that and flashed him a smile. He caught her eye and smiled back, until he noticed Curran glowering at him and returned to staring at his plate.

I kicked Curran under the table again.

Curran heaved a heavy sigh and then said. "We're all glad to have you back, Derek."

"You are?" Derek looked at Curran, than glanced at Julie, then back to Curran.

"Yes," I said firmly, before Curran could say anything scary. "Right, Julie?"

And Julie looking at me with wide eyes. I gave her a tiny nod, and a smile broke across her face.

"Yes," she said.

She and Derek proceeded to spend the rest of the dinner staring at each other and I only had to kick Curran three more times.

*

"Why don't you walk Derek out?" Kate asked Julie, after they finished clearing the table.

Julie looked at Derek and he smiled a little. He said his goodbyes to Kate and Curran and held the door to downstairs open for her. They were silent as they walked through the rest of the quarters, past the guards and into the main Keep.

"I really am," Julie said. "Glad to have you back."

They walked in silence for a few minutes and then Derek said, "I'm glad to be back."

A few more minutes of silence. Than Julie looked around them, saw that the hall was mostly empty, grabbed Derek's hand and pulled him into an empty room.

"Maddie and Ascanio think I should jump you."

Derek blinked. "Okay."

"Okay I can jump you?"

"Julie, I--"

She took a step closer to him and he broke off. She looked up at him. She could see him swallow.

" _Julie_."

"Put it this way," she said. "If you _don't_ want me to jump you, you better do something to stop me."

Derek stood still and breathed in and out.

Julie stood on her tiptoes, put her arms around her neck and pulled him down to her.

"Hi," she said. His eyes glowed with yellow light and she stroked his face.

"When's the jumping going to happen?" He asked and nuzzled her neck.

"Does this count?" She turned her head and brushed her lips against his.  
"More," Derek whispered.

So she pushed him against a wall and leapt into his arms. His grinned at her, his eyes flashed, and then his lips descended on hers.

When they finally let go of each other, Derek reached out, ran his hand through her hair, and said, "You can jump me anytime."


End file.
